Since my previous post on the subject I’ve found a few more photos of winter in Moscow. Sadly, no Russian bears got into the photographer’s viewfinder, but rest assured, the bears are there, probably in hiding or something.
I haven’t done a recipe for some time so here is an easy one for the roasted bell peppers with garlic.
Sweet bell peppers are delicious and good for you, but most of the time they are not cheap. You can usually find them at the grocery store in three colors – yellow, red and orange (green is not sweet and doesn’t work in this recipe) but they almost never cost lest than $1 a piece. That’s why I usually buy them at the City Market where they are sold anywhere from 2 to 4 for a dollar. Today I got 8 peppers for 2 bucks. Pick the peppers that are not wrinkled without discolorations and soft spots. There is a reason why they are cheap so make sure to inspect them before paying. Anyone knows that a soft and wrinkly pepper is no good.
Wash your peppers and remove soft spots. Place in a 375F oven on a foil-lined sheet.
After a few minutes roasting pepper aroma will fill your house. Every 10-15 minutes turn peppers 1/4 turn. You will notice the pepper skin starting to look burned in places. Don’t worry, skin peels off anyway and that’s the way it’s supposed to look like.
The peppers will eventually lose their shape and will turn brown on all sides. Some amount of liquid is normal. 45-50 minutes should be plenty, after that the peppers may start drying out.
Let the peppers cool down, then remove the skin, seeds and separate peppers into medium-sized strips and pieces. Occasional seed or a piece of skin is perfectly normal.
Discard the rest.
In the meantime, peel some garlic and round up some oil, vinegar and salt. Do not use olive oil or fancy vinegar, olive oil solidifies in the fridge; any corn or vegetable oil will do. The amount of garlic, salt and vinegar depends on you. I did go slightly overboard with garlic but you can’t ever have too much.
Press the garlic and mix with oil, salt and vinegar. You should have about 4-8 tablespoons of the mixture. Just mix it wit peppers and adjust to taste. Store in the fridge. Warning: If there is any chance of you making out (with a person), this will definitely ruin it, unless your partner eats the peppers too. Not recommended for work lunches or when you are around other people and pets.
It all began in 1955 when Eugene M. Pond, then Kansas City’s chief of detectives who now is chief of police in Wichita , became alarmed at the menacing hot-rod situation here. Motorcycle patrolmen were having a tough time coping with wildcatting, illegal drag racing, on city streets. High speed chases of 100 miles an hour or more were common occurrences.
Pond held a series of meetings with motor-happy youngsters that resulted in formation of the timing accociation. The Kansas City Southern Lines offered a plot of land for $2 a year. A loan of $70,000, to be repaid from profits of the strip , was obtained from a patron group and a contractor agreed to contribute half the cost of grading and paving.
Caught in a swirl of public enthusiasm, the strip was finished two months sooner than planned and suddenly, nocturnal cat and mouse episodes between dragsters and police largely disappeared. The situation has remained relatively the same ever since.
The good news about the green borscht is that it doesn’t have the dreaded beets in it. The bad news is that it’s made out of spinach. I understand that when you list the ingredients – spinach, green onions, boiled eggs you may not find it to be an exceptionally enticing combination. Nevertheless, it’s one of my favorite soups, light, easy to make and delicious.
Assemble the ingredients: 3-4 eggs, spinach, green onions, parsley, potatoes, rice and dill (or dill weed, still legal in all 50 states), which I unfortunately forgot to procure.
Start by boiling eggs in a medium pot of salted water. The new scientific way to do this is to cover the eggs with 1 inch of water, bring to boil, turn the heat off and cover for 10 minutes. No need for little cute egg-timers and no room for guessing, the eggs will be perfectly done.
In the meantime, start boiling some water in the large pot. This is not a thick soup, I filled up my pot about half-way. The recipe says to boil some rice (about 1/2 cup) separately and rinse before adding to the soup. I skip this step and put rice directly into the pot when the water starts boiling; you are cooking borscht, not trying to get every pot you own dirty.
Next, finely chop some green onions;I used a whole package from WalMart, or 1 bunch. If some Emeril wannabes want to call them scallions, just roll your eyes quietly and let them have their moment.
While chopping onions both the white and green ends go into the soup but my Mom says that the middle part is bitter and throws it away. I personally never checked if the middle part is really bitter but I take my Mom’s word for it. Don’t send me comments about how useful the middles are, or how you can weave a blanket out of them; I will still throw them away because my Mom said so.
Add chopped onions to the pot. Make sure it doesn’t boil too hard, adjust heat as needed.
Cube 3-5 potatoes and add to the pot; add salt.
Now on to the spinach. I buy pre-washed baby spinach in a box or a bag. You may be tempted to overpay and buy organic, but keep in mind that they probably used something that rhymes with schmecal schmatter to fertilize it (that what makes it cost more). I go for chemicals every time. I used one package, 8 oz, I think.
Tear off stems from the spinach leaves and chop them medium. You can stack several leaves together to make this process easier, then it’s will be what’s known to the Food Network watchers as chiffonade.
Chop the parsley. When potatoes are almost ready (can be cut with a spoon with a slight effort) add spinach and parsley to the pot. Boil for 5-7 minutes.
While all this boiling is going on, use a box grater to shred the eggs, or just chop them with a knife.
Add 4-5 tablespoons of the sour cream and mix it really well. Add chopped dill, if your Mom didn’t have a schmuck for a son and you didn’t forget to buy it. When the soup boils again, turn the heat off, add the shredded eggs and adjust the salt.
You are done.
Eat warm or cold, I don’t like it really hot. We used to eat it straight out of the fridge in the summer months.
P.S. The beauty of this recipe is that you can’t screw it up by adding too much or too little of any ingredient, except for the salt. So go easy on salt and you will not be disappointed.
These photos are interesting to me because my Father was going through the medical school about the same time (1963) and some of the situations are similar to what I have in our own photo albums.
